M A Baby
ON the 79th Independence Day, after hoisting India’s national flag at the ramparts of the Red Fort, Narendra Modi delivered the prime minister’s ceremonial address to the nation. Curiously, he used the solemn occasion to extol the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Modi said, “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s 100 years of service to the nation is a truly glorious and golden chapter.”
A moment that truly epitomised the RSS’s service to the nation was the eve of India’s independence. Organiser, the RSS mouth-piece, in its editorial published on August 14, 1947, was ruthless in denigrating our tri-colour. The harshest words were used to belittle it. “The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the tri-colour but it will never be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.” Irony died a thousand times, when the PM sought to place the RSS on a pedestal, after unfurling the very tri-colour that it so hates!
During his speech, Modi went on to say, “I respectfully remember all those swayamsevaks who have contributed to this century-long journey of national service… which will continue to inspire us.” Since the prime minister used a national observance to eulogise the RSS and its service to the nation, it would behove the nation to recollect their so-called service. It is widely known that during the freedom struggle, M S Golwalkar –ideologue of the RSS and its second Sarsanghchalak – had exhorted his followers to not waste their energy fighting the British. It was because of this ideological commitment that the RSS did not participate in India’s anti-colonial freedom struggle. In a nutshell, this is the ‘greatest service’ rendered to the nation by the RSS!
The first demand for Poorna Swaraj was raised by Moulana Hasrat Mohani – a Communist – in the 1921 All India Congress Committee (AICC) session, held in Ahmedabad. It was only eight years later at the 1929 AICC session held in Lahore that the Indian National Congress (INC) accepted a resolution for Poorna Swaraj. Subsequently, Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tri-colour and the INC urged Indians to celebrate January 26, 1930 as ‘Independence Day’. On January 21, 1930, K B Hedgewar – founder of the RSS and its first Sarsanghchalak – issued a circular asking all RSS shakhas to show respect to the ‘bhagwa dhwaj’ as the national flag, on January 26. Clearly, the RSS’s disdain for the tri-colour was not born on the eve of Indian independence. It is widely known that for more than 50 years after India attained independence, the RSS had refused to hoist the tri-colour at their headquarters in Nagpur!
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha leader V D Savarkar – whom the Sangh Parivar herald as ‘veer’ – even went to the extent of repenting for his role in freedom struggle during his initial years. Addressing himself as a ‘prodigal son of the merciful British government’, Savarkar eventually promised the British that he would never again participate in the freedom struggle, and kept that promise! The Hindu Mahasabha openly opposed the call for the Quit India Movement and boycotted it officially. It was this very Savarkar’s portrait that was unveiled in the Central Hall of Parliament by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2003. The Modi government has gone one step ahead and placed Savarkar even above Mahatma Gandhi – the father of the nation, and the national flag!
This Independence Day, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas shared a poster on X, in which Savarkar was elevated over Gandhi and the tri-colour. While on one hand Gandhi led several struggles against the British, Savarkar wrote multiple mercy petitions to the colonisers pledging loyalty to the crown in exchange for his release. He was even an accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Nathuram Godse who physically pulled the gun’s trigger, shared Savarkar’s extremist ideology and had ties with the RSS. Yet, to the Modi government, freedom was a gift to us Indians from both of them. This is the kind of shameless re-writing of history that is being attempted across the country today.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training is supposed to be an autonomous organisation that should qualitatively improve school education in the country. Of late, it is acting as an arm of the ruling government, making changes in school curricula and textbooks to suit their ideological moorings. The Aryan migration theory has been removed from the History syllabus. Distorting historical nuance, Social Science textbooks are re-written to emphasise religious intolerance, especially under the Mughals. Important freedom fighters like Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali have been removed from the coverage of the four Anglo–Mysore Wars. References to the Babri Masjid demolition, the Gujarat riots, and discussion of Hindutva in contemporary politics have been removed from Political Science and History textbooks. Yet, we are constantly reminded of the partition of India. Even the prime minister referred to it during his Independence Day speech.
The prime minister talked of the world’s confidence in the Indian economy, of us tackling inflation and so on. Despite making tall claims that are not backed by statistics, he did not have the courage to call out his friend – US President Donald Trump. Trump Tariffs was an issue that all Indians expected him to speak up about, to assure us that India will stand firm and not succumb to US’s pressure tactics and that our country's economic sovereignty will be defended. But, he did not utter a word. While concluding, he said that “unity… will be our collective resolve that no one should be able to break the thread of unity”. But, he remained conspicuously silent about those from within his party and organisation trying to break the unity of the Indian people, especially during the recent terrorist attacks in Pahalgam.
This is the new India, one which seeks to cast a shadow on our manifested history and actively engages in manufacturing a non-existent history. As Indians, it is our duty to ensure that the truth is re-told amidst the concerted efforts to bury it. Now that even legislations are being brought in to further strengthen the authoritarian project of the RSS that seek to muffle all those opposed to their ideas, we need to be even more vigilant.
